D R A 
are axillary on the upper part of the plant, commonly in 
pairs, fometimes in threes; and are of a violet-purple 
colour, paler without. 
7. Dracocephalum Ruyfchiana, or hyflop-leaved dra- 
gon’s-head : leaves and brakes lanceolate, undivided, 
awnlefs. Stems about two feet high, with two fmooth 
linear leaves at each joint, about an inch long, and one- 
eighth of an inch broad, with a deep furrow along the 
middle. The flowers appear in June, and are of a fine 
blue colour. Native of Norway, Sweden, SwiflTerland, 
and Siberia. This and the foregoing fpecies were fepa- 
rated by Boerhaave, and made a diftinct genus, under the 
name of Ruyfchiana, in honour of Dr. Ruyfch, who was 
profeflbr of anatomy and botany at Amfterdam. 
II. In whorls. 8. Dracocephalum Sibiricum, or Sibe¬ 
rian dragon’s-head : flowers fubverticilled ; peduncles 
bifid, pointing one way; leaves cordate-oblong, acumi¬ 
nate, naked. The ftalks of this do not grow eredt, like 
the preceding, but fpread nearer to an horizontal pofition ; 
they divide into feveral branches, which have a pair of 
large leaves at each joint, and four fmaller, two on each 
tide; they are fmooth, have fliarp indentures on their 
edges, and ftand eredt. The flowers come out from the 
fide of the ftalks at the bafe of the leaves, two or three 
together on each fide; calyx^mrple, corolla of a paler 
blue. Native of Siberia. This, and all the foregoing 
fpecies, are perennial. The third is marked in the Kevv 
catalogue as biennial. 
9. Dracocephalum Moldavica, or Moldavian dragon’s- 
head or balm : leaves dotted underneath ; bradtes lanceo¬ 
late, the ferratures capillaceous. This is an annual plant, 
rifing with branching ftalks a foot and a half high, with 
oblong leaves, deeply ferrate on their edges. The flowers 
come out in whorls round the ftalks at every joint; they 
are blue, and appear in July, continuing to the middle 
of Auguft. The feeds ripen in September. The plant 
has a ftrong balfamic odour, which to fome perfons is 
very agreeable. Native of Moldavia. Cultivated in 1596, 
by Gerarde. 
10. Dracocephalum canefcens, or hoary dragon’s-head 1 
bradtes oblong, with fpiny ferratures ; leave's fubtomen- 
tofe. This has hoary ftalks, a foot and a half high put¬ 
ting out two or three fide branches, with hoary leaves 
near two inches long, and half an inch broad, a little 
indented on their edges; they are placed juft under the 
Whorls of flowers, which fit clofe to the ftalk ; the corolla 
is large, of a fine blue colour, and makes a pretty appear¬ 
ance among the hoary leaves. It flowers and feeds about 
the fame time as the foregoing fort, and is generally treat¬ 
ed as an annual, but the roots will live two years in a 
dry foil. There is a variety, with white flowers. Difco- 
vered by Tournefort in the Levant. 
ix. Dracocephalum peltatum, or willow-leaved dra¬ 
gon’s-head: bradtes orbiculate, ferrate-ciliate. This is 
an annual plant, about a foot high, fending out two fmall 
branches from the lower part. Flowers fmall, purplifh, 
coming out at the fame time with the two foregoing. 
Native of the Levant, whence Tournefort fent the feeds 
to the royal garden at Paris. 
12. Dracocephalum grandiflorum, or great-flowered 
dragon’s-head; leaves crenate ; root-leaves cordate ; ftem- 
leaves orbiculate, fefiile; bradtes acuminate-toothed. Na¬ 
tive of Siberia. That defcribed in the Species Rlantarum 
is a variety of this. 
13. Dracocephalum nutans, of nodding dragon’s-head: 
bradtes oblong, ovate, quite entire; corollas rather large, 
nodding. This alfo is annual. Stalks many, weak, about 
nine inches high, having at the bottom ovate-lanceolate 
leaves about two inches long, and an inch and a quarter 
broad, crenate, and on pretty long foot-ftalks. The flow¬ 
ers are of a deep blue colour; the feeds ripen in autumn. 
Native of Siberia. 
14. Dracocephalum thymiflorum, or fmall-flowered 
dragon’s-head: bradtes oblong, quite entire; corollas 
fcarcely larger than the calyx. Stalks a foot and a half 
Vol. VI. No. 330. 
D R A 49 
high ; lower leaves like thofe of betony, upon very long 
foot-ftalks: upper leaves fmall, and clofer to tlxe ftalks. 
The flowers come out in w’horls at every joint, they are 
of a pale purple or blue colour, and being fmall make 
little appearance. Seeds fmall, ovate-oblong, flightly 
convex on one lide, angular on the other, dark chefnut 
colour. Native of Siberia. 
15. Dracocephalum Cochin-chinenfe, or dragon’s-head 
of Cochin-china: fiow'ers in fpikes; bradtes roundilh, 
acute ; leaves ovate-lanceolate, quite entire. Stem her¬ 
baceous, ten inches high, erect, grooved, villofe. Flowers 
violet-coloured. Native of Cochin-china. 
Propagation and Culture. 1, 2. Thefe will live in the 
open air, but require a moift foil, or fhould be duly wa¬ 
tered in dry weather, otherwife the leaves will fhrink, 
and the flowers make little appearance. 
3. Balm of Gilead is ufually kept in the green-houfe ; 
but in mild winters the plants will live abroad in warm 
borders; and thofe which are kept in pots will thrive 
much better wdien flieltered under a fpame than in a 
green-houfe, where the plants are apt to draw up weak ; 
for they fliould have as much free air as pollible in mild 
weather, and only require to be flieltered from fevere 
froft. This may be propagated by feeds, which, if fown 
in autumn, will more certainly grow than thofe which 
are fown in the fpring; but, if fown in pots, they mull 
be fheltered under a frame in the winter, and, if the 
plants do not come up the fame autumn, they will rife 
in the fpring ; but if the feeds are fown in the full 
ground, it fhould be in a warm border; and in hard froft 
they fliould be flieltered, otherwife the young plants will 
be deftroyed. The plants may alfo be propagated by 
cuttings ; which, if planted in a fliady border any time 
in the fummer, will very foon take root, and furnifh 
plenty of rooted plants. 
6, 7, 8. Thefe plants are propagated by feed, which 
fliould be fown the latter end of March, in a bed of frefh 
light earth in an open expofure, and in about five or fix 
weeks after, the plants will appear, when they fliould be 
carefully cleared from weeds; and if the feafon fliould 
prove dry, they mtift be refreshed now and then with wha¬ 
ler, which w'ill greatly promote their growth. When 
the plants are about two inches high, they fliould be care¬ 
fully tranfplanted into a bed or border of frefh, light, 
undunged earth, cbferving to fliade them from the fun 
until they have taken root, as alfo to refrefh them with 
water until they are well eftablifhed in this bed ; after 
which time they will require no further care, but to keep 
them conftantly clear from weeds till Michaelmas, when 
they are to be removed into the places where they are 
defigned to remain for good. At Michaelmas, when the 
plants are tranfplanted for good, they fliould be carefully 
taken up with balls of earth to their roots ; and they 
mull be planted in the middle of the borders in the plea- 
fure garden, in frefh light earth, intermixing them with 
other hardy plants of the fame growth, where they will 
make a pretty appearance when they are in flower, and 
will continue three or four years; and in fome poor (lony 
foils the roots will live fix or feven years, but thefe do 
not produce fo large fpikes of flowers as the younger 
and more vigorous plants. Therefore, as thefe plants do 
not continue many years, it will be proper to raife a fup- 
ply of young plants to fucceed them, for the old plants 
will produce feeds plentifully, which are ripe the latter 
end of Auguft or the beginning of September, when they 
fhould be gathered in dry weather, and kept in a warm 
dry room till the time for fowing them. 
9-14. All thefe forts may be propagated by feeds, . 
which may be fown either in the fpring or autumn, in 
fmall patches, upon the borders where they are to remain. 
When the plants come up, they fliould be thinned where 
they grow too near together, and kept clear from weeds. 
DRACONA'RIUS,/. in antiquity, Dragon-bearf.r, 
Several nations, as the Perfians, Parthians, Scythians, Sec, 
bore dragons or lerpents on their ftandards; whence the 
Q ftandards 
